A day trip from Hanoi: hand-rowed sampans through the water caves of Trang An, the tenth-century capital at Hoa Lu, and 500 steps up to Mua Cave.
Photo: Duc Van / Unsplash
Day 1
We collect you from your hotel in the Hanoi Old Quarter at 7.30 and drive about two hours south on the Phap Van – Cau Gie expressway. The first stop is Hoa Lu, capital of Dai Co Viet in the tenth century, where temples to the emperors Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh stand on the old palace foundations inside a ring of limestone hills. Lunch is local — crisped rice and mountain goat — and then you board a hand-rowed sampan at Trang An: roughly three hours on the Sao Khe River, passing through nine flooded caves, some low enough that you duck, with stops at Trinh Temple and Tran Temple between sheer limestone walls. The day finishes with the climb of nearly 500 stone steps to the top of Ngoa Long mountain at Mua Cave, looking straight down on the Ngo Dong river winding through the Tam Coc rice fields; anyone who would rather not climb can wait by the lotus pond at the base. We are back in Hanoi around 7.30 to 8 in the evening.
Ninh Binh is often called Ha Long Bay on land, and geologically that is fair enough — the same limestone, with rivers instead of sea between the towers. The experience is nothing like it, though. The boats are small and unpowered, the person rowing sits directly behind you, and for three hours on the river you hear almost no engines at all.
We use the Trang An route rather than Tam Coc, even though Tam Coc is nearer and cheaper. Trang An takes you through nine flooded caves instead of three, the landing is large enough that you rarely queue, and you are not followed by vendor boats the way you are on the other route. The trade-off is about an extra hour on the water.
Mua Cave comes last because it is the hardest part of the day: nearly 500 uneven stone steps, without a continuous handrail, and the light is kinder in the late afternoon. Anyone who prefers to skip the climb can stay at the lotus pond below, which is worth sitting by in its own right. The trip runs out and back in a day, so there is no need to check out of your Hanoi hotel.
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